Celestron OMNI XLT 102 First Light

So glad to read these posts and hear of people seeing Saturn through a refractor! The 102 is a really great scope. It often surprised me and seemed much bigger - refractors are hard to beat. I still use mine a lot, and by the way it works great with a solar filter, which is what I use it most often for these days. Good luck and keep us posted. GW

Rob the supplied ep works out good fr me since I used mostly the 25mm plossl with my dob. The Celestron 25mm has a wider fov which I found nice for the clusters. My two paradigm ed's arrived today but it will be too cold tonight for viewing. But who knows, I may just haul the scope out for a quickie.

Congrats on the new scope! My Omni 102 sees a lot of use for lunar and planetary viewing and I enjoy the scope a lot -- it gives very sharp an contrasty views. Jovian moon transit and the GRS are easy targets for the Omni 102. Last spring when Mars was at opposition my Omni 102 gave better views than my XT10i on some nights. Also, IMO, the CG-4 mount is perfect for the Omni 102 and in general an underrated mount. And as csrlice mentioned, turning just one knob to track a planet at high power is much nicer than nudging a dob.

As far as eyepieces go, I've had good results with the ES 82 eyepieces. My highest power eyepiece is a Meade 5000 HD-60 4.5mm which is about the limit of the Omni 102. The HD-60 works really well on nights of good seeing and gives nice contrasty views. On nights of average seeing my 6.7mm ES 82 is about the maximum useful magnification.

Also, a 2" diagonal is worthy upgrade to the Omni 102. I got a 2" Astro-Tech dielectric for mine. It's $119 at Astronomics, which is a very good deal for this diagonal. Looks like they're currently out of stock though.

Congrats on the new scope! My Omni 102 sees a lot of use for lunar and planetary viewing and I enjoy the scope a lot -- it gives very sharp an contrasty views. Jovian moon transit and the GRS are easy targets for the Omni 102. Last spring when Mars was at opposition my Omni 102 gave better views than my XT10i on some nights. Also, IMO, the CG-4 mount is perfect for the Omni 102 and in general an underrated mount. And as csrlice mentioned, turning just one knob to track a planet at high power is much nicer than nudging a dob.

As far as eyepieces go, I've had good results with the ES 82 eyepieces. My highest power eyepiece is a Meade 5000 HD-60 4.5mm which is about the limit of the Omni 102. The HD-60 works really well on nights of good seeing and gives nice contrasty views. On nights of average seeing my 6.7mm ES 82 is about the maximum useful magnification.

Also, a 2" diagonal is worthy upgrade to the Omni 102. I got a 2" Astro-Tech dielectric for mine. It's $119 at Astronomics, which is a very good deal for this diagonal. Looks like they're currently out of stock though.

Is it a worthy upgrade because it allows you to use 2 inch eyepieces? or do you actually see more with it?

This is one of my favorite threads because I'm getting my omni XLT 102 in just over a week and I have two eyepieces the ES 8.8 82º and the 20 68º just waiting to plop in. I am looking at a meade 2 inch diagonal so I can get a fat 82º piece for it.

Is it a worthy upgrade because it allows you to use 2 inch eyepieces? or do you actually see more with it?

Yep, it will let you use 2" eyepieces. The 2" eyepieces are for low power wide fields of view. You can get a much larger field of view with a 2" eyepiece than a 1.25" eyepiece at certain focal lengths. They are great for large open star clusters like M7 in Scorpious or M45, the Plieades, in Taurus. They're also good for just panning around the Milky Way and finding stuff.

An Omni 102XLT, a 2" diagonal, and a 24mm ES82, dark skies (and an OIII filter if you have one)....and you're set for the night. You can bring the other stuff...but it might not get much use.....Just picked up an ES100* 14mm....gonna try that out on the moon tonight. It'll make a great companion eyepiece to the ES82* 24mm.

An Omni 102XLT, a 2" diagonal, and a 24mm ES82, dark skies (and an OIII filter if you have one)....and you're set for the night. You can bring the other stuff...but it might not get much use.....Just picked up an ES100* 14mm....gonna try that out on the moon tonight. It'll make a great companion eyepiece to the ES82* 24mm.

Awesome! Let us know what the 100º EP is like for that scope. I'm super interested in what your impressions are.

An Omni 102XLT, a 2" diagonal, and a 24mm ES82, dark skies (and an OIII filter if you have one)....and you're set for the night. You can bring the other stuff...but it might not get much use.....Just picked up an ES100* 14mm....gonna try that out on the moon tonight. It'll make a great companion eyepiece to the ES82* 24mm.

Awesome!

I have the 20mm ES 68 already and it's a great view. (scope came in July 3rd) What do you think about an ES 34mm 68º for the 102 omni? I did the math and supposedly it will get 2.34º FOV which would be just awesome.

I have the 20mm ES 68 already and it's a great view. (scope came in July 3rd) What do you think about an ES 34mm 68º for the 102 omni? I did the math and supposedly it will get 2.34º FOV which would be just awesome.

I have the 102GT (f/9.8). My 24ES68 gets the most use for low power. I haven't used the 34ES68, but you might also consider the Baader Hyperion 36mm (72* AFOV) for very wide views.